Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: Tyrfang on October 26, 2008, 05:42:49 AM
-
Not sure if these were brought up before or not...
1) Since Mistborn can burn up pretty much any metal that enters their bodies, doesn't this inadvertently cause mineral deficiencies? Maybe TRL changed humans enough so they didn't need the minerals to survive...?
2) Did I miss something, or was sand never mentioned once in the entire book?
3) If the Mist included all allomatic powers (besides atium), shouldn't Vin have had the abilities of the 15th/16th metals? If not, would the last metals be outside the realm of preservation, like atium was?
4) If metal appears as a giant blind spot, wouldn't one be able to find metal caches simply by searching for giant blindspots?
-
I think that because theyaren't constantly burning them it wouldn't make a difference. And really, how often do they burn Zinc? Iron maybe, but there is plenty of time to recover.
She does have the ability to use them... but maybe the metal just hasn't been discovered yet.
Yes... but if you're specifically asking about finding the atium stash, that gets explained in HOA. I can't think of another time that it was neccessary to find a stash, as far as the storyline is concerned.
-
The 15th and 16th metals are mentioned in the HOA Spoiler thread, and they are Chromium and Nicrosil. No shocking revelation there, since they will be on the Table of Allomantic Metals along with their power. They operate just like the other normal metals, which means there are Mistings of them. And, of course, Mistborn can burn them.
-
the reason Vin didn't burn the last two isn't because she didn't have access to them, but because she didn't know what they were. It seems like an Allomancer has to actually search for the stores of metal they imbibe, it doesn't just appear. She was too busy fighting for her life to bother searching for metals that she didn't even know existed and might not even be of any help.
-
I think that because theyaren't constantly burning them it wouldn't make a difference. And really, how often do they burn Zinc? Iron maybe, but there is plenty of time to recover.
Come to think of it, I suppose Mistborn just couldn't burn minerals they already metabolized/absorbed.
-
the reason Vin didn't burn the last two isn't because she didn't have access to them, but because she didn't know what they were. It seems like an Allomancer has to actually search for the stores of metal they imbibe, it doesn't just appear. She was too busy fighting for her life to bother searching for metals that she didn't even know existed and might not even be of any help.
I think this is correct. I was going to say that I didn't think the last two metals would have helped her, but it occurred to me that Chromium could have been fantastically useful. A normal mistborn with Chromium could probably beat an Inquisitor. So I think we just have to say she didn't notice the virtual metal stores.
-
Although, come to think of it, that brings another question to mind...
Chromium is a relatively plentiful metal and discovered a LONG time ago. Granted this is a separate "world," the Chinese had chromium plated weapons as far back as 300 BC. It's also a required, in very minute amounts, mineral in humans.
Why was its allomatic properties never discovered? The Lord Ruler, I'm sure, had at least some members of various cantons searching for new metals constantly.
An argument could be put up that mistborn never used it properly, due to its odd ability. However, given that the Lord Ruler knew there were 16 metals, and assuming that the people working for Lord Ruler are at least as competent as the readers of this forum, they should have been able to theorize various possible uses for the remaining two metals...
*shrug*
-
Chromium could be less plentiful in this world. Also, notwithstanding its ancient use by various peoples in our world, the Western world didn't figure out it existed until the late 1700s. Which is before aluminum was isolated—but there are lots of things in history that could have turned out differently.
-
Maybe the ancient allomancers (before Alendi's time there were mistings, just not as common as they are now) burned away most of the world's Chromium supply?
-
Maybe the ancient allomancers (before Alendi's time there were mistings, just not as common as they are now) burned away most of the world's Chromium supply?
Except the lord ruler would know its an allomancer metal, then...
Plus, there wouldn't be much USE in chromium if there were very, very few allomancers. Its really only useful against other allomancers.
*shrug* The world may never know.
...I wonder what an atium savant would be like.
-
The Lord Ruler also didn't share ALL his knowledge about allomancy.
-
It may be possible for Chromium and Nicrosil to affect Feruchemy as well, just like an Allomancer/Feruchemist hybrid can burn Gold, Atium, etc. for a geometrically increased amount of Health, Youth, etc. That is, Chromium would inhibit not only Allomancy but also Feruchemical powers, making an Inquisitor basically powerless. If it turns out that Chromium diminishes the power of Hemalurgy as well, it may be fatal to Inquisitors, Kandra, and Koloss. And if that is the case, it should be obvious why the Lord Ruler wanted to hide that pair...
-
I don't know about the atium savant. Spook got so used to having enhanced senses, whenever he ran out of tin he pretty much lost his senses. So it stands to reason an atium savant would get used burning atium and processing so much information so quickly that whenever they weren't burning atium they would have a hard time processing what is happening around them.
-
If the Lord Ruler knew of Chromium and Nicrosil, then he would have said so in one of his storage caches, just as he did with electrum.
-
I don't know about the atium savant. Spook got so used to having enhanced senses, whenever he ran out of tin he pretty much lost his senses. So it stands to reason an atium savant would get used burning atium and processing so much information so quickly that whenever they weren't burning atium they would have a hard time processing what is happening around them.
Frankly I think that (in the unlikely case where it could happen) an atium savant would be like an amphetamine addict - without the atium they'd probably be fatigued, depressed, suicidal and mildly insane.
-
After burning so much of Ruin I think the person would be extremely insane and prone to rash acts of destruction. Also they would likely be extremely powerful, gaining powers beyond even that of seeing into the future.
-
If the Lord Ruler knew of Chromium and Nicrosil, then he would have said so in one of his storage caches, just as he did with electrum.
Unless he really really really REALLY didn't want anyone to know.